Blood on the Horizon
- Chapter 12 -[]
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Arriving to Somewhere[]
Taking a sip of my coffee, I went over the route again, manuals were littered across the table as I went through every procedure that was listed.
"Come on, there's got to be something there," I let my head fall onto the table, the cool metal surface clearing my mind a bit. "I'm gonna have to check the sensors to see if I'll have to use one of the Confederates down, or if I can just dock with the Manassas."
"Well, that's interesting," I looked at the picture of the system the sensors had painted for me. "Freakin' Star League," I shook my head. "Always knew they had too much money on their hands."
The SLDF had hidden a small repair and resupply base in this system. Without the right knowledge, this system would simply be another one of the thousands of systems that had been marked down as not having a habitable planet.
But with the right knowledge, some things were made very clear.
"The SLDF was very much prepared for the periphery to rebel," I muttered. "I bet this isn't even the only system set aside for this sort of thing. If the RWR could have hidden factories and shipyards, then the League likely did as well."
I moved to the comms station and sent out a basic communications signal with Captain Cromwell's old codes, hoping that there would be some sort of automated response.
After waiting for a few minutes, an automated handshake protocol responded. Nothing more than a simple docking instruction, but it was enough to tell me that the facility was still active and capable of responding.
"And now I have to figure out how to get you docked with this place, old girl," I patted the console of the Manassas' bridge. "Because I'm still figuring out some of your tricks."
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Aegis Class Heavy Cruiser, SLS Manassa
Moving over to the next station, I did something that had not been done in over two hundred years.
Hitting a small switch I slowly pushed the Fusion engines forward, keeping an eye on the reactor's heat levels and looking for any signs that my maintenance had been faulty.
And then, gravity slowly changed as the whole Warship reached 1G for the first time in nearly three centuries.
Now I had to do the hard part. Figure out how to fly in more than a straight line, and how to dock with the station.
Looking at the Options[]
"So, it looks like I've got three or four options," I muttered as I stroked my beard. "Option one is going for a spacewalk after parking close enough for it to be feasible. Option two is taking one of the Confederates to the repair facility and working things out from there. Option three is I learn how to trigger the automated systems and dock the Manassas with the station. And option four is I turn this thing around and park it in one of the FedSuns' or Concordat's systems and see what they'll give me for it."
I considered my options for a few moments before my curiosity got the better of me.
"I really want to know what's on the station," I grin as I position myself to move back onto the bridge. "Who knows what secrets the League was hiding out here in BFE?"
Practice for Docking[]
Adjusting my grip on the controls, I wiped some sweat from my brow before toggling the side thrusters, the aft of the ship spinning gently around and to a stop as I flared the opposing side and the aft stopped moving.
I looked at the simulated run and sighed, space is massive, and getting a ship perfectly aligned to dock with a station of any kind required precision like I had never considered before. All of the media I had ever consumed made it look easy.
It was anything but easy, momentum continues in space until you generate an opposite reaction. This sounds simple, we have all had science classes, and the basics of Newton's principles and laws are common sense by now. But knowing about the basic laws that govern the void, and knowing how they interact with what you're doing immediately was another thing entirely.
<{"Simulation failed,"}> Betty informed me. <{"Generating success rate."}>
"I'm not sure I want to know," I rested my head on the terminal screen while waiting for Betty to tell me how I did.
<{"Success rate of thirty percent, please see your immediate superior officer for more training."}>
"So let's do it again," I sat up and restarted the scenario, I was going to get this done right. Even if it took me weeks before I was ready to accomplish it.
Simulation Progress[]
Day 2
<{"Success rate of thirty-five percent."}>
-
Day 3
<{"Success rate of twenty-five percent."}>
-
Day 4
<{"Success rate of ten percent"}>
"Stupid fucking simulator," I swore and slammed my hand into my thigh, wincing as the pain shot through my leg. "It shouldn't be this hard to just learn how to move a brick in space!"
-
Day 5
<{"Success rate of five-zero percent."}>
"I know," I muttered as I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep. "I'm aware that I failed again, just let me sleep before I try it again."
But my mind would not let me rest. As I tried to sleep, visions of failing the docking procedure played out behind my eyelids. The potential explosions that might occur, the rupture of the hull, and death due to lack of oxygen. The horror of being alone forever as I died out here where no one would mourn me.
<{"Would you like to restart the simulation?"}> Betty asked as I opened my eyes and grabbed at the controls before tapping yes.
Docking Time[]
I had once laughed at a joke said in the Mass Effect series, but I in no way considered it a joke now. Sir Isaac Newton was truly the most deadly son of a bitch in space. Momentum, gravity, thrust, everything in space relied on his basic principles and laws, and nothing dared to violate them with the exception of the K-F drives.
I shook my head free of my thoughts and consciously loosened my grip on the controls as I eased the Manassas into the proper area, the computers communicating across the void as I shifted forward.
Part of the Asteroid opened up, a 'U' shape extending out and lights appearing to guide me in.
"Nothing ventured," I repeated the old maxim. "Nothing gained."
Pushing the controls forward, I guided the ship into the berth, my hands dancing across the various controls as I feathered through the area and watched as the green lights lit up to indicate a solid position before magnetic clamps latched on and secured the ship in place.
"I never want to do that again," I released the breath that I had been holding. "That was terrifying."
I leaned back in the chair as the thrusters were cut off and the berth retracted back into the asteroid.
"Now for a little exploration."